Elastic form fitting undergarment



May 21, 1957 c. w. HAMPP 7 2,792,693

ELASTIC FORM FITTING UNDERGARMENT Filed Aug. 9, 1954- 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 &

Fig.

Charles M. Hampp INVENTOR.

BY W

May 21, 1957 C. W. HAMPP ELASTIC FORM FITTING UNDERGARMENT 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 9, 1954 wtotum \B 5 .wEQ tQQSQ at. 82:23:

Charles W. Hampp INVENTOR.

United State ELASTIC FORM FITTING UNDERGARMENT Charles W. 'Hampp,Easton, Md., assignor, by direct and mesne assignments, to Alba HosieryMills, Inc., a corporation of Delaware Application August 9, 1954,Serial No. 448,423

1 Claim. (Cl. 66-177) This 'invention comprises novel and usefulimprovements in an elastic form fitting undergarments, and morespecifically relates to a ladies panty having improved form fittingproperties,'together with a greatly lengthened life during use andwashing, together with a novel method for constructing the same,

The principal object of this invention is to provide a novel ladiespanty or similar article having improved form fitting characteristics,together with an inherent resiliency whereby the article may comfortablyconform to the body of persons of different sizes; together with animproved method for manufacturing such garment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a form fittingundergarment in accordance with the preceding object which shall befabricated from a suitable synthetic yarn having unusual longitudinalresiliency, whereby the disadvantages normally inherent in theconventional use of rubber or rubber covered yarns for such garmentswill be obviated.

Another important object of the invention is to create an undergarmentin accordance with the foregoing objects wherein a predeterminedcontrolled degree of resiliency may be imparted to the garment anduniformly throughout the extent of the same during the manufacture of agarment.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method offabricating form fitting undergarments of the type set forth in thepreceding object whereby controlled variations in the method of formingthe article will produce the desired degree of resiliency therein.

A still further important object of the invention is to provide a formfitting undergarment as set forth in the foregoing objects which shallbe constructed entirely from a synthetic yarn having exceptional maximumresiliency for longitudinal extension of the same in order that thegarment shall be uniformly resilient in all directions and portions.

An additional object is to provide an undergarment as set forthhereinbe-fore and in. which certain portions of the garment, such as theportions adjacent the leg openings or the crotch shall be stiffened toprovide a greater resistance to stretching than the main or body portionof the garment.

A still further object of the invention is to: provide an improvedundergarment in compliance with the preceding objects which shall becapable of economic production upon conventional full fashioned knittingmachines to thus provide an economical method of fabricating the garmentas well as an additional and very important use for such conventionalmachinery.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a plan or development view of a knitted panel or blankforming the frontportion of the iniproved undergarment;

Figure 2 is a plan or development View of a knitted 2,792,698 PatentedMay 21, 1957 fabric or panel forming the back portion of an undergarmentin accordance with this invention;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a completedundergarment in accordance with this invention;

Figure 4 is a somewhat diagrammatic view illustrating the uniformresiliency or stretch of the garmet in all directions; and

Figure 5 is a further diagrammatic view illustrating the extraordinarytensile elasticity of a particular type of synthetic yarn from which thearticle is fabricated.

The essential and underlying purpose of this invention is to producearticles such as a ladies panty by knitting upon a conventional fullfashioned knitting machine a panty from a yarn of a particular materialwhereby extraordinary elasticity is imparted to the garment to enablethe same to adapt itself to numerous sizes of persons and to be wornwith considerably greater comfort and to possess a longer life than iscustomary for garments of thisnature. In the embodiment illustratedinthe drawings, the panty indicated generally by the numeral 10, as shownin Figure 3, includes a waist band portion 12, front and rear portions14 and 16, which at two adjacent ends are secured together to form acrotch portion 18, contiguous to which are leg openings 20.

At the outset, it'is desired to emphasize that the principles upon whichthis invention is based are not obtainable by the use of conventionalyarns commonly employed by the industry; and not until the recentproduction of a yarn of exceptional tensile elasticity and strengthcould the requisite properties be secured in such an article. At thepresent time, a newly developed synthetic nylon yarn, known as Helancanylon yarn, processed by the Duplan Corporation, has become available.This yarn has the exceptional property of elasticity which enables it tobe resiliently elongated more than twice its normal untensioned lengthwithout damage or permanent deformation. To my knowledge, this is theonly suitable material now known capable of satisfying the demands ofthis invention.

Turning now more specifically to Figures 1 and 2, it will be seen thatthe front and rear portions 14 and 16 are very similar to each other inappearance. Each includes as its upper portion the section 12 formingthe waist band, which is connected to the body or middle portions 22 and24 of the portions 14 and 16, respectively, by a laterally enlargedconnecting portion 26 and 28. Below the body portions 14 and 16, towardstheir lower ends, the front and back portions have lowered taperedportions 36 and 32, each of which terminates in a bottom edge 34 and 36.In the front portion, this lower tapered portion has concaved downwardlyconverging edges 38 which form the edges of the leg openings 20 of thecompleted garment. The back portion, which throughout its length isabout two inches wider than the front portion, in order to allow morefullness for the rear portion of the under-garment, preferably hassubstantially straight, downwardly convering edges 40 which cooperatewith the edges 38 to form the leg openings 20 in the completed garment.The edges 34 and 36 are fastened together, as by a looper along a seam42 whereby the portions adjacent thereto form the crotch 18 of thegarment.

It will usually be found desirable to form the two front and rear panelsas above mentioned separately and then to secure them together to make asingle garment, as by the vertical seams 44 which may beelfected by aconventional sewing operation, and by securing: thetwo edges 34 and 36together upon the seam 42. It is, of course, apparent that the completearticle may be fabricated by other conventional operations. 1

In order to provide stiffness and a greater resistance to stretching ofthe waistband 12, it is preferred to'form the .duced portions 30 and 32.

without permanent damage.

latter of a doubled thickness of material, as by folding the upperportion of the same downwardly over the lower portion and then sewing orotherwise securing the down folded edge, thus providing a doubledthickness of mate- .rial and therefore an increased resistancetostretching.

In order to provide a desired increased resistance to stretching to thecrotch and leg portions of the garment, the rear portion 16 has itsreduced portion 32 provided With-a zone of thickened material, as at 46,this zone extending through any desired length of the converging edge 40and being from one-half to three-quarters of an 'inch in width.Preferably, this strengthened zone is formed as by incorporatingreinforcing or splicing yarn .is provided with a strengthened zone 48and 50 which likewise may be created by the use of reinforcing orsplicing yarn in the fabric in the same manner as the stiffening zones46.

Although it may be possible to fabricate the garment in various methods,it is deemed preferable for the purposes of this invention to constructthe same by knitting upon conventional full fashioned knitting machines.The

machine for this purpose is adjusted in its operation in a known mannerin order to knit the two panels 14 and 1-6, the waist band portion 12being first knitted, thereafter the body portions 14 and 16, andfinally, the re- During the knitting of the latter portion, theadditional yarn is knitted into the .selvage edges 41) of the reducedportion 32 of the rear panel 16 and the additional yarn is also knittedinto the crotch portions 48 and 50 of the two panels. Thereafter, thetwo edges 34 and 36 are seamed together upon a looper to form the seam42, and the two portions 14 and 16 are then seamed by the seam 44, thewaist band 12 being turned down upon itself with its downturned edgebeing also secured to the portions 14 and 16. The garment is then readyfor the customary finishing operations common to knitted articles ofthis character, as for example, dyeing, boarding and the like.

It will be noted that the portion 50 extends downwardly a slightlygreater distance than the portion 48 in order to provide the necessaryincreased material from which to fashion the crotch 18.

The material suitable for use in fabricating this garment is a syntheticyarn, recently developed and now becoming available upon the marketunder the name of Helanca nylon yarn, manufactured by the DuplanCorporation. As diagrammatically indicated in Figure 5,

' this yarn has phenomenal tensile elasticity, an untensioned portion 60of the yarn being capable of longitudinal stretching or extension, asindicated by the dotted lines 62, to a position more than twice itsoriginal length, and

This yarn is of a size capable of being handled by conventional knittingmachines, and therefore, to my knowledge, is the only satisfactorymaterial for carrying out the purposes of this invention. When thegarment is fabricated from this material, it possesses unusualproperties of stretching. Thus, as diagrammatically depicted in Figure4, the waist band 12 may be stretched from a normal untensionedcircumference of 16%" to 44", while the hip portion, will stretch from18" to 52". Moreover, this stretch is uniform in all directionsthroughout the garment, thus assuring a snug fit of the garment to usershaving various body measurements.

It is to be especially noted that the use of this material results in agarment which eliminates the customary binding of the edges of the legopenings upon the legs of the wearer, since the nylon yarn will stretchuniformly throughout the leg portion of the garment and thus cause thesame to snugly fit and engage the legs and will minimize any tendency ofthe crotch of the garment to creep upwardly about the wearer. Thus, amuch more comfortable garment is assured and one which snugly andcomfortably stretches to provide a comfortable and satisfactoryengagement with the wearer. Moreover, the life of the present garment isincreased greatly over that of previous garments in the ability of thesynthetic nylon yarn to Withstand wear and washing withoutdeterioration, such as accompanies the wearing of the heretoforenecessary rubber cords or rubber covered cords forming the elasticportions of previous garments.

I desire also to particularly note that the yarn is knitted into thefabric of the garment in a normal manner and without the necessity ofproviding excess material which must be gathered together to provide theelastic action commonly necessary heretofore. In my garment, it is thematerial itself which stretches to provide the phenomenal adaptabilityof the garment to persons having different measurements.

However, it is an important feature of the process 0 manufacturing thisarticle and of the article itself, that the limits of stretching can bereadily controlled in a process of knitting. For this purpose, the yarnmay be maintained at any desired adjusted tension during the knittingoperation to thus pretension the same and thus limit the additionalstretch which can be secured from the garment during use. This providesa ready means, therefore, for pretensioning or controlling the maximumstretch of the garment, as desired.

It is further to be noted that in the garment as manufactured inaccordance with this invention, no cutting is necessary in order toprepare the front and rear portions for assembly since these portionsare themselves knitted to the exact size required in the conventionalknitting machine. Thus, the manufacture of the garment is rendered stilleasier and less expensive than in conventional practice.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will bereadily understood and further explanation is believed to beunnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction shown and described, andaccordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resortedto, falling within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

A full fashioned panty made from two fashioned blanks and having a twoply, downwardly turned Waistband, a front body portion, a rear bodyportion and a crotch por-i tion between and mainly of loss width thanthe body portions, and being knitted from highly stretchable syntheticyarn, at least one of said portions having reinforcing yarn incorporatedin at least one area thereof, the side edges of one body portion beingsecured to the side edges of the other body portion and the side edgesof the crotch portion defining leg openings of the panty and the pliesof the waistband being secured together at the bottom of the band.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS411,113 Templeman Sept. 17, 1889 416,615 Holmes Dec. 3, 1889 416,617Holmes Dec. 3, 1889 475,734 Sutton May 24, 1892 2,249,198 Carter July15, 1941 2,349,746 Morris et al. May 23, 1944 2,555,974 Kattermann June5, 1951 2,653,463 Crimmins Sept. 29, 1953 2,679,739 Brooks June 1, 19542,706,389 Garrou et a1 Apr. 19, 1955 2,747,391 Burkey May 29, 1956

